Maui's arc in Moana 2 allowed Dwayne Johnson to reflect on his own vulnerability: 'Asking for help is a superpower'

Dwayne Johnson — and by extension, his Moana character, demi-god Maui — looks strong enough to handle anything. But sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is ask for help.

It's a lesson that was hard-won for Johnson, growing up around examples of very traditional masculinity — and it's one that Maui must learn in Moana 2, coming to theaters Nov. 27. In the film, a sequel to the 2016 animated hit, Maui must contend with old foes and new enemies. When we return to him in the sequel, he has a run-in with a mysterious new character, Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), with whom he shares a shadowy past.

And there's more behind their face-off than he might think — which means the demi-god might find himself in need of some assistance from his number one girl, Moana. If he can swallow his pride and do it.

"Sometimes the hardest thing in life is to ask for help," Johnson admits, chatting with Entertainment Weekly at D23 for our latest cover story on the upcoming movie. "It puts us automatically in that position of vulnerability. The idea of jumping into vulnerability isn't necessarily always our [first choice], and it doesn't come easy."

"This guy is a demi-god," Johnson continues. "He can do whatever he wants, have whatever he wants, live the life. But it's all stripped away in this one moment. He can either continue to live life how he lives, or he can strip it all away and say, 'I really need help.' That's a hard thing to do — when you're that low and you feel like you've fit rock bottom. It's an important moment for people to see that you can be strong, you can be big, you can be independent, but it's okay to ask for help. When you do finally ask for help, and you put yourself in that position of being vulnerable and being open, the universe has a way of meeting you halfway."

It's something that Johnson has personally experienced. As an only child for many years, he was relied on to "take care of things and solve things," not to mention being taught to push down his emotions and be the "tough" guy. "I sharpened the tool, having this ability to keep everything in, and never ask for help and never show that I needed help," he explains. "I carried that with me for a very long time. It served me in the worlds that I was in — football and then professional wrestling."

Johnson says that mentality continued well into his acting career. "I was told when I first got to Hollywood, 'You can't look like this. You have to look a certain way. You're too big. You have to look like these particular guys who are leading men. Don't call yourself 'The Rock.' Don't do this. Say it like this,'" he recalls. "If you don't know any better, then you start to buy into that and to question yourself."

It wasn't until he was older that Johnson realized much of his internal doubt and fear was part of a bigger mental health struggle — one he'd seen have a tragic impact on the lives of many of his friends. "As I continued to grow up, I started to understand what depression was," he says, beginning to choke up. "The word depression was out there, but it was not part of the male vernacular, especially in the world that I was in, the very hyper-masculine worlds of football and professional wrestling. I started to realize, 'Oh, this is depression. I need to open up. I need to talk to somebody. I need to completely mentally and emotionally recalibrate.' If not, I felt like I would continue to go down the road of not talking to anybody and hiding my feelings and my struggles. The end of that road was not going to be a good one."

An unfortunate reality for a "handful" of his friends over the past decade. "They decided to check out," he reveals. "It was too much for them, and they didn't seek the help that they could have. They didn't see it in front of them even though it was there. You lose people you love, and you come to that crossroad where, 'Okay, here's an opportunity to get better.' When it feels like you're in the muck of it, you're not alone."

Johnson's realization changed his life, finding power in asking for help. "It's okay to be vulnerable. It doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger," he says. "You realize that masculinity is not being tough or a badass — any of the things that are idealized in our culture. Masculinity is the powerful confidence you have to look inside and say, 'This is what I'm feeling, and it's okay. Here's my chest. I'll gladly rip it open to someone who can help me.'"

Having come to that conclusion through years of loss and self-reflection, Johnson wants to help others know it's okay to admit you're struggling. It's why Maui's story in Moana 2 is so important and personal to him. "After experiences of going through this stuff for years, you realize that you can become an advocate for a lot of people out there too," he explains, holding back tears again. "The idea of asking for help is a superpower. So, when I got to Maui this time, I'm like, 'Okay, I know who this guy is — who is very presentational, who puts on a show, who loves to hold court and sing, dance, and make people feel good.' But there's a lot of s--- that's brewing deep down that eventually he is going to have to contend with. It's like a ball that you're holding underwater. Eventually, you've got to let the ball go, and it's going to explode."

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But Moana 2 is not some tale of Maui's dark night of the soul. It's bursting with the humor, adventure, and musical numbers we've come to know and love (Johnson says to look out for one from Maui that features the demi-god's favorite catchphrase, "Chee hoo!"). For him, this mix of meaningful a message and family storytelling is what brought him back to the world of Moana and Maui in the first place.

"We want to teach these lessons to our little ones," he reflects. "We want to find a way to talk about this with them. You need films like this, where it's entertaining and there's a lot of amazing magic that's happening. But as parents, it will put you in a position with your family where you can talk about this. Because even the strongest of people need help. Whether you're a boy or a girl, man or woman, it doesn't matter — the strongest people need help."

—Reporting by Sydney Bucksbaum